


Homecoming

by Atsuki-hime (Atsuki_hime)



Category: Naruto
Genre: AU – canon compliant, Hatake family secrets, M/M, Violence, Wings, of what I really had in mind, or the end, think of it as a preview, this isn’t the beginning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-15
Updated: 2016-08-15
Packaged: 2018-08-09 01:30:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7781635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Atsuki_hime/pseuds/Atsuki-hime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You were almost killed,” Kakashi responds in a bored tone.</p><p>“That’s right,” Iruka says quietly, fixating on Kakashi’s face and the shock of white hair sticking up with the support of his hitai-ate. “Some…some sort of thing attacked me.”</p><p>Iruka notices that now that Kakashi no longer has the Sharingan, both of his black eyes appear to be bottomless.</p><p>Prompt 4 - prompt was based off of this image: http://kakairu-fest.livejournal.com/102716.html</p>
            </blockquote>





	Homecoming

Iruka is falling from the sky.

Despite the near deafening sound of rushing air as he free falls through the atmosphere, he can only hear his heartbeat pounding through his ears and the buzz of his panicked thoughts.

_I can’t move._

With proper jutsu, he might be able to survive a fall from ten kilometers high. His wind affinity could generate an air current that could significantly slow his drop speed, giving him a rough – but safe – fall into some dense trees. Or perhaps he could generate a barrier to protect his body from the collision with the ground below. But before that _thing_ dragged him to the very edge of the troposphere, it beat every last ounce of chakra from Iruka’s body, leaving him essentially paralyzed from exhaustion.

_I’m going to die._

It only takes fifteen seconds to reach terminal velocity, and soon he feels like he’s floating on a cushion of air instead of barreling towards his death. The lack of oxygen this high up in the atmosphere makes breathing difficult, and he feels like he might pass out before he reaches the ground.

_Kakashi, are you still alive?_

Iruka can’t keep his eyes open any longer. The glaring sun and the pull of the dark abyss from the lack of oxygen are too much for him, and he shuts his eyes against the perfect blue sky above. He thinks it’s a beautiful last sight to see before the end. The bright sun makes him see a myriad of reds and yellows behind his eyelids.

His mind continues to whir with jumbled thoughts as he tries to make peace with everything in his life before his inevitable doom. His last thought is _Naruto, please be a strong Hokage_ before the reds and yellows disappear and everything goes dark.

Except, Iruka is still falling. The wind is still roaring past his ears; his heartbeat is still pounding – so what is blocking out the sun?

Iruka struggles to open his eyes. He’s not sure if he’s facing up or down anymore, but when he finally manages to get his eyes open enough to see in front of him, his blood runs cold.

From high above, heading straight for him, is that _thing._  Its face is silhouetted by the sun, but the massive shadow of wings extending from its back gives it away. This thing – this winged creature Iruka could never have imagined in his worst nightmares – had caught him off guard after he had separated from Kakashi during their mission. It had appeared from the depths of the ruined village they’d been sent to investigate, brandishing sharp talons and incredible speed. Its dirty gray wings had looked damaged and withered.

It had glared at him with bottomless black eyes through long, matted white hair. It had bared rotten teeth at him, countering all of his jutsu with a blinding white barrier Iruka had never seen before. Iruka had exhausted himself of all of his chakra before the creature dug its claws into Iruka’s shoulders and lifted him high in the air with its mangled wings before dropping him to his death.

Was it coming back to finish the job? The creature is catching up to him, using its wings to propel itself in Iruka’s direction. Iruka tries to quell the rising panic in his body; it doesn’t matter if that thing catches up to him or not, he is going to die anyway.

Out of the corner of his eye, Iruka can see something smaller flying alongside the creature. He can’t tell exactly what it is through the shadows it creates by blocking the sun, but it looks like a small dog with its own small wings.

Iruka hadn’t seen the small creature before. He is confused, and knows that time is running out. Soon, he will either be the victim of the large creature’s talons or a stain on the ground below. Iruka doesn’t fight, though. He only watches as the larger creature’s silhouette approaches him, its distinguishing features becoming clearer. He sees the shock of hair stick up from its head in every direction and its full, powerful wings. He still can’t make out its face, but can see it reach out to him with a perfectly normal hand.

 _This isn’t the same creature_.

Iruka realizes the winged creature flying towards him is not the matted, mangled beast that attacked him.

The peace he’d made with everything in his life is stirred up by a new feeling of hope. Is this thing trying to help him? Can he possibly survive this? Will he be able to see Naruto again?

Iruka closes his eyes and tries find some trace of energy left inside of himself – anything that will get his body to move. He doesn’t want to die. He doesn’t want to leave behind the children he teaches or Anko’s impromptu drinking nights or Naruto’s brand new family. But his body doesn’t respond to his will, and when he thinks he has absolutely nothing left, a thought whispers across his mind.

_I want to see Kakashi again._

Iruka can suddenly flex the fingers in his right hand. He has little time to be amazed at his body’s reaction to wanting to survive, and lifts his arm, hopefully reaching out in the general direction of his potential savior. He can’t open his eyes – can’t move anything else on his body – so he doesn’t even know if he’s reaching out in the right direction anymore. But he wants to live, and he’ll try anything.

For a few seconds, nothing but the wind passes through Iruka’s fingers. His heart begins to sink and doubt creeps into his thoughts before something warm and firm grasps his hand tightly, and suddenly his body is pressed against another.

Iruka goes limp. He can feel the edges of his consciousness begin to fade away. As the roaring of the wind begins to die down and he feels his body decelerate, his last thoughts are _please don’t eat me_ before he passes out.

 

* * *

 

 

When Iruka comes to, everything hurts. He’s lying on something cold and hard. As he tries to sit up, he registers the sound of rushing water in the distance and the cool, damp air against his skin. He groans as he opens his eyes, and hears footsteps in the distance.

Iruka pushes himself up, facing the direction of the footsteps. He blinks a few times to clear up the initial blurriness, and the entrance of the cave he seems to be in comes in view. He must be on the outskirts of the village ruins they had been investigating.

The footsteps grow louder, and making its way toward Iruka, shaded against the light from the entrance of the cave, is the silhouette of his winged savior.

Except, there are no wings, only a man. And as that man comes into clear view, reaching down to help pull Iruka up, Iruka is confused.

“Kakashi-san?” Iruka asks, taking Kakashi’s hand and standing up. He stumbles a little as his knees shake, but Kakashi steadies him with his other hand.

“You were almost killed,” Kakashi responds in a bored tone.

“That’s right,” Iruka says quietly, fixating on Kakashi’s face and the shock of white hair sticking up from the support of his hitai-ate. “Some…some sort of _thing_ attacked me.”

Iruka notices that now that Kakashi no longer has the Sharingan, both of his black eyes appear to be bottomless.

“Is that so?” Kakashi asks, his tone unchanging. Iruka nods.

“And then…” Iruka pauses and inhales deeply. His senses are going crazy. Is Kakashi really what Iruka thinks he is?

“And then what, Iruka-sensei?” Kakashi steps in a little closer to Iruka, and his presence is overwhelming. Kakashi’s chakra is emanating in heavy waves, and Iruka knows it is a warning to choose his next words carefully.

However, Iruka has never been a person to cower from a challenge.

“You.” Iruka steels himself, because he doesn’t know what consequences may come. Kakashi is a dangerous man, and even if Iruka were in full health, he would have a small chance of defending himself from Kakashi with such a short distance between them. “You saved me, didn’t you?”

Everything is still except for Kakashi’s ominous chakra filling the air. They continue to stare each other down, waiting for one to make a move, before the silence is broken by a voice from the entrance of the cave.

“Boss!” Kakashi’s chakra vanishes and they both look toward the voice. At the entrance of the cave is the familiar shape of a small dog, and Iruka has to squint to realize it’s Pakkun. “I can smell ‘em and it’s getting closer!

_Is that really…?_

“We need to move,” Kakashi interrupts Iruka’s thoughts. “Can you run?”

Iruka flares his chakra a little, but he doesn’t have much.

“Not for long,” Iruka replies, looking back and forth between Kakashi and Pakkun. “Kakashi-san, what the hell is going on here?”

“Maa, Iruka-sensei, that’s the question of the day, isn’t it?” Kakashi begins walking toward Pakkun, beckoning Iruka along. Iruka can tell Kakashi is brushing him off.

“I almost became a splat on the ground!” Iruka growls, grabbing Kakashi’s arm to stop him. Iruka knows Kakashi can easily shake him off, but Kakashi stops anyway. “I at least deserve an explanation.”

“Boss, we don’t have a lot of time,” Pakkun warns from the entrance.

“I was hoping it wasn’t somehow still roaming the Earth,” Kakashi mutters, still looking towards the entrance, prepared to escape at any moment. “I shouldn’t have agreed to bring you along.”

“Give me a straight answer,” Iruka growls, walking in front of Kakashi and meeting his eyes. “You tell me what is going on _now._ What was the thing that attacked me?”

“This is my homecoming, Iruka-sensei,” Kakashi says stonily. “That _thing_ that tried to kill you? It’s old and dying and doing whatever it takes to stay alive in a world it doesn’t belong to anymore. It came from a time before hidden villages and shinobi. It is…”

Iruka has never seen Kakashi falter with his words before.

“Boss!” Pakkun barks in urgency.

“Tell me what that thing is, Kakashi-san,” Iruka presses on, ignoring Pakkun’s warning. Kakashi lets out a long, slow breath.

“It is a founder of the Hatake Clan, and I am its last living descendant.”

Iruka only has enough time to immediately regret taking the C-class mission with the famous Copy-Nin before he hears the familiar cry of the monster that tried to kill him in the distance.

“This is unreal,” Iruka mutters, the volume of his voice growing with each word until he’s nearly shouting. “A monster tried to kill me and it might be your great great grandfather or something -”

“More like great great great great great uncle…”

“- and you’re one of them too?!” Iruka throws his arms up in exasperation, only to have them caught in Kakashi’s hands. Kakashi must see the flash of fear in Iruka’s eyes at his movement, because he slides his hands down Iruka’s arms and cups Iruka’s face in his hands.

“I won’t hurt you, Iruka,” Kakashi says quietly, and Iruka’s temper begins to settle down. “You don’t need to be afraid of me.”

Iruka can hear Pakkun growl another warning from the cave entrance.

“I’ll explain everything later, but we need to leave _now_ ,” Kakashi continues when Iruka doesn’t reply to him. “Do you trust me?”

Iruka hesitates, but in the end, his decision had been made years ago. Kakashi had helped him find the path to becoming an Academy Teacher. Kakashi had become an important mentor in Naruto’s life. Kakashi had saved him from Pain. Kakashi had saved the country from Madara and the Ten Tails. Kakashi had rebuilt Konoha as the Sixth Hokage before passing the title down to Naruto.

“Yes,” Iruka says softly. “I trust you.”

“Then I’ll protect you with my life,” Kakashi replies, before taking Iruka’s hand.

As they sprint out of the cave with Pakkun following close behind, something in the back Iruka’s mind wonders if he made the right decision.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to tackygoldring for the excellent last minute beta work. This could become something longer (and way better).


End file.
